Partnerships Between Hospitals and Community for Spiritual Care

Hospitals have a long history of forming partnerships with religious based organizations to ensure that patients have access to spiritual care professionals. One type of partnership is the Hospital-Community Collaborative (HCC). An intentional partnership is formed to share financing and governing (decision-making) of the hospital spiritual care program. Many Hospital-Community Collaborative (HCC) arrangements currently exist yet there is little research or information on how a community based organization can form an effective partnership with a healthcare institution. The goal of all partnerships is a win-win situation where both partners have a voice in decision-making. As healthcare continues to face fiscal restraint we need access to sustainable models of spiritual care. Partnership between hospital and community is a creative and viable model and may be most applicable in smaller or rural based hospitals. This book is the dissertation research on four HCC’s in Ontario, Canada and asked the question – “What enables them to work?” Information is also included on the variety and prevalence of partnership arrangements in Ontario (20%).